CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County is bolstering its jail staff amid months of scrutiny regarding jail conditions and treatment of inmates.
County Executive Armond Budish on Friday announced the addition of 36 corrections officers to the jail, 27 of which are new hires and nine of which are transfers.
The new officers set the jail staff's total at 626, its highest total ever, according to Budish's office. The county says it aims to boost its corrections staff to 675, meaning it's still taking applications.
"While there is much more work to be done with hiring to account for retirements and resignations, this is solid progress," Budish said in a news release issued Friday.
The county says it has reviewed nearly 1,500 applications since January 2018. Of those applicants, 197 were hired.
Inmate suicides, mistreatment of inmates caught on camera and lawsuits have plagued the jail after whistleblowers directed attention to its problems.
A state inspection issued in February found the jail was not in compliance with dozens of standards, including overcrowding, failure to separate violent and nonviolent inmates, insufficient beds and failure to document use of force incidents.
Twenty current and former inmates filed a lawsuit in April, citing inhumane and dangerous conditions. That complaint came a week after seven officers and an associate warden were indicted on a variety of charges.